Hood latch



D. E. BROWN April 2, 1935.

HOOD LATCH Filed Feb. 26, 1932 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 2, 1935 1 UNITED STAT noon LA'rcH David E. lirown,Detroit, Mich., assignor of onehalf to Harry GlBradow, Detroit, Mich.-

Application February 25, 1932, Serial No. 595,25 4' '2 Claims.

This invention relates to latching means, and more specifically to animproved and simplified arrangement of parts particularly adapted tobeinstalled upon a motor vehicle to enable locking and release of thehood panels covering the engine from within the passenger compartment.-

While various constructions have in the past been utilized for thispurpose, they have in the main been objectionable on the score of thecomplexity and consequent undue expensiveness of manufacture andinstallation believed-unavoidable in this type of latch. My inventionhas. for.

latches which are operable only from outside the vehicle. A furtherobject of my invention is the provi' sion of a construction of the typementioned which is so rugged and positive in operation'as to providesecure and safe latching means effectively preventing persons from alifting the hood of the vehicle, unless they first have access to theinterior of the vehicle to release the-latching mechanism.

Still another object of my invention lies in the provision of such aninteriorly operable hood latching construction adapted to function withequal eficiency even though the hood panels are not tightly closed, orare in partial disalignment with respect to their properly closedposition, in which event, upon closing actuation of my device, theimproperly or not fully closed hood panel or panels will be drawn intofully aligned and tightly closed position, and there firmly held, untilreleased by reverse actuation of the latching mechanism.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription, wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawingillustrating preferred embodiments of my invention, and

(Cl. 29249) I through one of the siderails of the vehicle framesubstantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, show-; ing one of the latchunits in side elevation; a fragment of thehood panel and. the latchbracket carried thereby being also shown; 1 V

Figure 3 is a rear, elevational view of one of my improved latch unitssimilarly installed, taken from the. inside of the vehicle and lookingtoward the hood wall substantially as indicated by the arrow 3 of Figurev2, surrounding parts being fragmentarily shown; Figure 4 is afragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line4-4 of -Fig ure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows; Figure 5is a, side elevational view of a'vehicle hood with which has been;incorporated a some-v I what modifiednform .of .my invention, the hoodpanel beingqpartially broken away tov afford a r side :elevationalviewof the latches, and

Figure-6 is anenlarged detail side elevational 2 view of the samemodified latching construction, fragmentarily showing thexsupportingparts, and bringing ioutthe' variant. method of mounting.

Referring nowto the drawing, reference character G indicates 'a'siderail of a vehicle frame, shown as achannel iron of the usual form. Thisis of course immaterial, however, and it will be seen that myinvention-fie:equally-applicable to varying vehicle constructions andtoother latching purposes thanrthat herein' specifically de scribed asanillu'strative embodiment. The side hood panel H is usuallysubstantially flat, hinged to an upper more nearly cylindrical sectionK, as at L, and arranged to occupy a substantially vertical positionwhen closed; its lower edge, as 35 best shown in Figure 2, lying alongthe upper portion of the frame.

To the inner face of the hood panel H are secured double bent bracketsE, preferably of the shape best shown in Figure 4.

Secured to the top of the channel iron, with upstanding portions inspaced parallel relation, are angle plates or brackets F, apertured asat N and 0. As shown in Figure 1, two pairs of cooperating hood bracketsand latching member may be employed, one adjacent each end ofthe hoodpanel, although if desired a single latch centrally located might beused. Pivotally secured to the upstanding portion of each angle plate F,I arrange the latch hook D, pivotally carried by the pin J, here shownas a shouldered rivet extending through the aperture 0 in the supportingangle plate. In the downwardly extending portion D of the latch hook Dmay be punched an aperture P, here shown as substantially rectangular incontour, within which fits a cam C fast upon rod A journaled in andextending through the apertures N in the angle plates. The upper forwardhoodengaging portion of the swingable latch member carries the shorttransverse rod S, which when the latch member is swung by the cam isadapted to be thrown into and out of the cut out portions Y of thehooked extremities of the bracket E.

Turning the cam by-means of the rod swings the latch book about itsfulcrum pin and *lorces the rod S into the bracket E, or withdraws ittherefrom, as the case may be, provided of course that the hood is sopositioned that the hook and bracket may cooperatively interengage. thewidth of the brackets -E zandsrods S they will engage even though thehood lbe slightly outl'of position, and because of thestraighteningtendency of the rod S as it engages the opposed arms of the brackets E,the hood will be drawn :into

alignment.

The control red A preferably extends -:completely through the rearmostlatch unit, generally designated Q in Figure'l, and run's to the fron'tlatch unit R, the-cam of each latch unit being f course secured-thereto.The rod may extend rearw'ardly through-an aperture the new W and so intothe interior of the vehicle, where it may carry-an operating leverlhereshown as simply a laterally bent end portion B of the rod.-

' The brackets ZElandF-areshown secured to the hood and frame side railrespectively by r ivets T, 'U, although welding or any other suitablemeansof secural might of course be used. It'W-ill be seen that with theexception-of the fulcrum pins and operating rod, each entire hoodlatching assembly may :beconstructed of sheet metal throughout, in-averyesimp'le. and inexpensive manner, whilethe excepted elementsmay be,formed of equally inexpensive wire and rivets.

The cams may,ifdesired', b'eiormed of theiblaiiks punched out. of thelatch hooks eforming'the apertures Pth'erein; The assembly for each hoodpanel may be the Jsame'foreach side 10f the ear,

In Figures 5 and 6 .I have shown a-isomewhat modified method of mountingmay be :em-'

ployed if "desired. In plane -of supporting-the brackets (heredesignated F'--F*t=) tuponithe :frame side rail, they are here securedtoth'e cowl W and radiator X respectively, for which purpose I find itbest to form the zcowl bracket 'F' with are ofiset, as F (Figure 6) toprovideasufiicient-clearance between the latch member D and the .rod

Due to S carried thereby and the cowl. The supporting flange of thebracket F is also of sufficient length to provide similar clearance atthe other end, as shown. The remaining portions of the device may ofcourse be analogous in construction to the first described embodiment,and they are so shown. The forward extremity of the rod A in thisembodiment, is free to slide out of the aperture 0' in the bracket-F inwhich "it is journal'ed, thus permitting removal of the radiator withoutdisturbing the rod or cams, the bracket and latch hook merely separatingtherefrom and remaining with the radiator.

While it will be apparent that the illustrated embodiments of myinvention herein disclosed are well calculatedto adequately fulfill theobjects and advantages primarily set forth, it is to be understood thatthe invention is susceptible to variation; modification and changewithin the spirit and scope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

-1. l n combination with a relatively fixed membee-having an aperturetherein, and "a closure member movable relatively thereto to closed andopened positions, means 'for latching the mov able 'member in closedposition, including a plurality of substantially parallel supports"carried by the fixed member adjacent the aperture, an

apertured latch hook movably carried by each support for movementrelatively to the closure memben acam member for actuating each latchr'ied .by the fixed member adjacent'the aperture,-

a plurality-of latch hooks of angular bell-crank form, one pivotallycarried by each support and each latch- 1100]! having an aperturenearon'e extremitywhileanother extremity is movable rela-- tively to.the closure member, a cam member for actuating each latch hook housedwithin said aperture, :a shaft extending between the several supportsand connected to the cams for concur rentlytactuating the latch hooks bysimultaneouslymovingthe cams.

, DAVID BROWN.

